The Bounty Hunter's Honour (Renegades Book 5)

by L P Peace

  Thank you for reading the Renegades series. I have one more surprise for you. A little bonus epilogue. You can read it by signing up to my newsletter here: https://BookHip.com/FZFTAP

  You can also download my free short story, Varimar, the first in the Klevian Warriors series from BookFunnel here. New universe, new stories, new heroes! https://BookHip.com/LHCBLZ

  Check out the Universal Menagerie. A handy list of aliens that appear in the Tessan series. It starts on the next page.

  Universal Menagerie

  Aavani are one of the slave races. Their skin, hair and eyes are gold. Originally known as the children of Micilla. The race actually comes from pale gold to dark bronze colour, but the golden ones are the ones everyone knows. Most of the other colours were killed by the Bentari. Decimen and Daius Edan are both Aavani.

  Adosian have bull-like horns, pale grey skin and tails. Adosian females have no rights under Adosian law, with Adosian men considered the ones who know what is best for them. Thelan, the agent who saves Zoe from the Orthali on The Crucible is Adosian.

  Ajnia are a canine-like race. They have two sets of horns, digitigrade feet, a muzzle like mouth and two sets of arms. Their skin is like suede, and they wear their hair dreaded. They used to be members of the Protectorate but left after the Tessans made their declaration against slavery.

  Amaran people have the same morphology as humans, two legs, arms, eyes and ears. They have grey skin, the males and females in lighter tones, whereas adalan, their third gender, tends to have darker grey skin. Dahnus Ascendi is Amaran, and Tyne and Aran are adalan.

  Athon have enormous feathered wings, with lighter downy feathers over the rest of their bodies. Volder, the pit fighter is Athon.

  Bataarin have dark grey skin and black eyes, which are mostly pupils. Their hair comes in blues and greens. They come from a very dark world which only gets dim twilight a handful of times a solar. Mikel is a Bataarin.

  Bentari are the most successful slaving race in known space. They have orange to red glowing eyes with vertical pupils. Their skin is ruddy brown, and they have dark red tendrils on the back of their heads. Hekalion Dar is Bentari.

  Cealin have white skin, pale blue, green and purple eyes. White hair. They are tall but slenderer than the average race. They kidnapped 50,000+ human males and genetically altered them and wiped their memories. Those males revolted, escaped and became the Protectorate. The Cealin live underground on the third planet of their system but evolved on the second planet. It was destroyed by the Enhari.

  Dauvin have black hair and eyes with dark grey to black skin. Dauvin males are subservient to their queens. A queen will have several lovers and goes through heat every few years where she will make love with her entire harem, then lays eggs.

  Davoshin have dark red, almost maroon skin. Large bone plates and bone spikes protrude from their arms, shoulders and back. Daius Edan was born free on a secret Aavani colony. Their colony was destroyed when Davoshin invaded, killed the darker-skinned Aavani and sold the remainder into slavery.

  Devori live close to nature. They are a neutral race, though some want to enter the slave trade to become more powerful. They have black hair, yellow, orange and red eyes and grey/green skin.

  Enhari have steal blue and charcoal grey skin with striations of different colours. The striations are better than fingerprints for identification. The current Enhari king murdered the previous king and his family. Their society is under embargo by most worlds for their attempts to create an empire almost four hundred solars previously. This embargo would have ended a long time ago, but they keep acting against different members of the IGC.

  Fedhith are a metallic purple-skinned race, with stunning eyes. Fedhith males are subservient to their females. A female can take as many lovers as she likes. Males are brought up in monasteries where they are trained to please their females. If they lose their purity, they are punished, tattooed and sold as pleasure slaves. They produce a venom that allows a female to bear their children, but it also acts to prevent them getting pregnant by other males. Males are required to wear their hair long and bound for the pleasure of their females only.

  Gaoalin are a deeply honourable race. They have ice blue skin, white horns and pale eyes of all different colours. Their homeworld is extremely cold.

  Gliedan are Black-skinned and gold-scaled aliens, with digitigrade feet, tail and tendrils on their heads. They are ovipositors. Vandamir the pit fighter is Gliedan.

  Goedan are a reptilian race who took the Enhari's side during the war hundreds of solars ago. Their space is surrounded by Amaran, Enhari and Inadiine space. Not much is known about them.

  Hieledan are a Naga like sapient race made up of several tribes of different colours; black, blue, gold, green, purple, red and turquoise. Each tribe will occasionally produce a pure white Hieladan, they are considered sacred. The blue Hieladan tribe used to rule the planet, but they were betrayed by the black, who were their primary guards. Later, the family who took the throne were murdered, all but one son, and overthrown by the head of their guard. The home world has been in a state of war since.

  Himaran are a dark grey race, with red markings. They are highly poisonous.

  Hinari can only mate in groups of five; four males to one female. They are neighbours of both the Amarans and Kuyon and along with the Horran have fallen under Amaran protection for hundreds of solars. As such, they have strong political ties with all three peoples. Hinari males have a strong domination instinct. Unfortunately, it is easily corrupted to make true sadists, so they ignore the urge to dominate out of fear of falling into behaviours that once brought their race to the edge of oblivion.

  Horran are one of the larger races. From 7 to 8 feet tall. They have huge horns which make them appear much taller. Even though they fall under Amaran protection, they do not have Tessan protection, though they are under negotiation to join the Protectorate. Their skin is mottled blue steel with a lighter turquoise or teal markings. It almost appears like marble. Jorvath, the pit fighter is Horran.

  Huan are considered vermin by most races. Seen as opportunistic and looked down upon, they have a poor reputation in their whole sector of space. They are around 7 feet tall and have armoured foreheads. They come in a variety of colours, usually with two to three on their bodies, though their young are pale and only develop their markings from around eight solars old.

  Iladar have dark green skin with black scales covering their shins, forearms, shoulders and back. They have four arms and long green tendrils hanging from the back of their heads. The Kaita are natural leaders among their people who have the ability to shift to a larger armored version to protect their people.

  Inadiine are 7 foot plus in height and bulky. They have dark grey to black skin, white hair and highly reflective eyes. They were among the earliest signatories of the Protectorate and have been members for over two hundred solars. They're known for their stealth tech, their advanced materials with which they can create stealth clothing and for their large criminal underground.

  Ivoreshi males are smaller than their females. The species is distrusting by nature, taking time to get to know people before allowing anyone to get close. They're excellent fighters, hunters and killers and fiercely loyal to those they care about.

  Kathen are large, with bulky muscles. They have six horns which curl around their heads, providing protection to their skulls. They come from a largely green planet and live harmoniously with their world. Their world was going to be invaded by the Bentari when the Maruzen approached them and offered them protection in exchange for soldiers to fight for their mutual defence. Kathen and Maruzen have had close ties since.

  Keddor are another of the larger races. They have dark navy grey skin, which they tattoo with iridescent red and gold tattoos and have dark hair which the males tend to wear long and loose. Their eyes tend towards yellow to orange and often appear gold.

  Kerisian people have green skin and eyes that are various shades of yellow, green and
blue. The males have tendrils covering the back half of their heads which they can wear up and down. They are all around the seven foot mark. They have a democratic world and live in large family groups, though fathers tend to live with their own mothers even after fathering children. They have a few colony worlds but are not rich. The average family live and work in groups to ensure everyone is provided for. Shopping augments a life of self-sufficiency.

  Kolder have deep amethyst skin, two sets of twisted black horns growing in a V above the eyes. They have black hair and teal, green and blue eyes. They practice slavery but are mostly interested in Zavi because Zavi are the closest to Kolder with their purple orchid skin. They have a very hierarchical society and are deeply racist.

  Kuyon have blue skin, black on black eyes and electric blue hair. They breed in triads, two males to a female and all members are sexually active with one another. They need two fathers to create a child. In some Kuyon cultures the offspring has a blending of the father's names, whereas in others, the children take the mothers surname.

  Ledaan have green skin and pink to purple eyes. Slavery is common to their society and they don't consider slaves to be real people. They have advanced armour tech. The armour Danithor carries in The Prisoner’s Deception was stolen from a Ledaan bounty hunter.

  Luadaal have pale white to off white skin, dark blue hair and eyes. They have an honour-based society, and military service is required of all members.

  Maruzen are a predatory race, Maruzen bodies have lean, dense muscles, meaning they're extremely strong. They have dark, dusky purple skin, grey eyes and dark purple-black hair. Their claws are like cats, they retract into sheaths and they have prehensile tails.

  Nbalan are a slave race living under the Ilidar. They have a variety of psychic abilities the least common and most desired of which is the ability to manipulate the nervous systems of other people. They have pale skin and purple hair of all shades.

  Nemari fought with Amarans, Adosians, Todaal and Tauban against the Enhari expansion and it is those races who founded the IGC. Devi, a Nemari activist, hired Danithor to retrieve the fertilised embryos of an Adosian female who’d escaped her pack. She offered to help Tara escape Danithor.

  Orthali are an extremely aggressive race. They're also sexually aggressive, meaning their women are commonly brutalised. They have two cocks, which are two of the strange tentacle things that grow on their backs, the others are pseudo-cocks. They wrestle with them to prove their dominance.

  Potuun have pale cream skin with red markings and quills growing from the back of their heads. The males are smaller than the females.

  Protectorate are the genetically altered human men stolen during the events of ‘The Violation’ on Earth in the mid-twenty-first century. They are a long lived species with pale skin, white hair and pale eyes of amber, green and blue. Due to them being genetically enhanced and altered, they carry the genes of Cealin, giving them long life, Sehn, which is where they get their horns from, as well as some of the properties of their venom and Fedhith which is where they get the orgasmic properties in their venom from. They also have the genes of various races including Inidiine and Weyilan, explaining the limited breeding ability with these races. However, their venom was altered specifically to genetically alter human women to make them Protectorate and therefore make them capable of breeding with humans. They were created to be an army by the Cealin but killed their masters and left the planet where they were engineered. They subsequently founded the Protectorate and guard the borders and worlds of around forty races. Due to further Cealin experiments, there are now over three thousand Protectorate females and the first natural-born Protectorate are being born.

  Qoni are another of the larger races, growing from seven and a half to almost nine feet in height. They have digitigrade legs, thick tails and horns, purple skin with green markings.

  Raqhan have cream skin with brown markings. Brown hair and ridged foreheads with bright blue and green eyes. Heresh, the pit fighter is Raqhan. Their race believes they have the right to slaves by divine decree.

  Scrants are a mystery. Few know what scrants look like, or anything about their society except that they built Alidai pit and the city around it.

  Sehn come in a variety of colours, from very dark, to light. They have long hair, with antelope horns. They are venomous, but can also create antidotes to venoms, poisons and toxins. This becomes tailored to their mates when they take one and bite them. They bite each time they have sex and their venom can also deliver anti-virals, anti-bacterials and more. The males are significantly larger than the females. Varid from Alidai pit is Sehn.

  Surilan look a lot like humans. They are larger, but nowhere near the size of the larger races. To protect themselves from slavery, many of the Surilan people augment themselves to some degree or another. Very few people are allowed to leave Surely, and those that do are either farmers or become criminals. Kaiton and the Prince Eternal are Surilan.

  Tensa are butterscotch in colour. They have four horns on their heads, a thick tail, digitigrade legs with three huge toes.

  Tessans are a mix of races that live on the planet Tessa. The Protectorate are now the most numerous of those races since they joined in 2369, claiming the planet as their home and opening it up to freed slaves.

  Todaal are one of the founding races of the IGC. Kadian and the other scientists rescued by Makios from Hidynus space station is Todaal, as is Arridis, another rescued scientist, who set the radiant engine core on Endurance to explode.

  Ualha are one of the slave races. They are extremely pale with black markings, black eyes and white hair. The males are ovipositors. Their planet falls under Fedhith space who ‘administrate’ their planet and the people in breeding facilities.

  Uunda are an arachnid race. They stand are bipedal beings but have four more appendages that exist in a desiccated state in a bundle on their backs. When needed, a hormone is released that allows them to expand. At this point, the Uunda can stand over ten feet in height and can scale sheer cliffs.

  Walian have dark red skin. Thick tendrils on their heads, thick tails and digitigrade legs. Along with the Horran, Invoresh and Keddor, they are among the largest races standing at over eight feet tall.

  Author Note

  Thank you for joining me on this journey through the Renegades series.

  I can’t believe that this is the last book in the Renegades series. I know it didn’t end the way the series seemed to promise, but there are a lot of stories still to tell in this world.

  As Thanesh said, while he was planning and conspiring, so was Hekalion Dar, and Dar is Thanesh’s equal in intelligence.

  If you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving a review. I would really appreciate it. More, I love reading them and if you have any criticisms, don’t be afraid to add them, I take notes. I can’t guarantee you’ll never see something you didn’t enjoy again; I have to go where the story takes me, or I get writers block, but I take notes.

  This story was quite difficult to write. I knew where it was going and the characters, but I had some things to wrap up from previous books and I had to set up some stuff for the books to come which made it slow going.

  I also have Seasonal Affective Disorder which, if you haven’t heard of, means the lack of sunlight makes me super tired during winter. I can sleep for hours longer than a person is meant to and it makes my head fuzzy and makes it hard to concentrate. I started this book on November 1st and didn’t finish it until mid-January. For comparison, it took me six weeks to write The Mercenary’s Dawn and only fifteen days to write The Smuggler’s Radiant. This winter was harsh and it was hard, but in the end it was worth every minute of struggle. I love Sophia and Ronin. Their dynamic is so sweet and endearing and, to me, Sophia truly is adorable.

  I added a weight problem in reverse to my own in this one. I’m overweight. I’ve struggled with my weight since I was around fifteen years old and put weight on easily. I’m like Sophia’s cousin; I only need to
look at chocolate to feel my waistband tighten. I’ve been jealous of women who have the opposite weight problem my whole life. But I have a niece who suffers from it. She can eat three or four times the food I can and struggles to get up to a UK size 8 (US size 4). She hates it. She says she looks too skinny and ill. She thinks she looks gaunt and has people accusing her of having an eating disorder.

  She’s beautiful. I love her dearly and hate that this is something strangers feel like they have the right to comment on. It hurts her deeply.

  As soon as I came up with Sophia I knew she was going to struggle with gaining weight. Sophia was always a trained fighter in my head and couldn’t get the muscle mass to bring her fight weight up. She knew she’d be facing huge aliens, so concentrated on speed and flexibility, but still hates that she can’t gain weight. I can’t tell you how many times she cursed her cousin in my head wishing she could gain that kind of weight so she could turn it to muscle! Anyway, I worry that Sophia’s weight problem may put some readers off her. She is a kind, fierce, brave woman who embraces everyone, I hope you embraced her.

  Right!

  Next is the first book of my new Warriors series, The Scientist’s Price in April. This will tell the story of Kadian, the Todaal scientist, hunting down and rescuing Olivia, the engineer you met briefly in The Prisoner’s Deception when she announced to Captain Abrami that aliens had made it to the engine room. I’m halfway through the story now and can’t wait to share it with you.

  In June, (around the time of my one year authorversery) Keral, Thanesh’s friend and co-head of the fleet, will be rescuing Addison from Caras. I can’t wait to start exploring their relationship. Addison is strikingly intelligent and creative. Autism doesn’t stop people from being functional adults, I know because there are many adults in my family with the condition. What it does do is make people see the world differently and Addison had that advantage on her side when she escaped the Ledaan who bought her. Keral is going to become quickly obsessed with her; I can already feel it happening! (Yes, my characters talk to me and each other and yes, I am insane!)